239/300

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not really sure how I missed this review somewhere along the way.



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238/300

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Still not feeling the hype behind this series. Now that I am reflecting on this book, I am wondering why the beginning even happened. What did that add to the story? Why were those characters involved? Anyway, as I was reading I kept thinking of the review on here that talks about how it is like an Ikea commercial. Again, totally unnecessary to hear about every piece of Swedish furniture she decided to buy. This book took me two solid weeks to read. I had a really hard time keeping all of the Swedish names straight. Yet, I still found myself wanting to read and see what happened.



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237/300

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thought this was well done and heartbreaking. To go through what this author has gone through and have such a great head on his shoulders is amazing. Tells the story of the war in Sierra Leone with honesty and brutality and is a great eye opener for those of us lucky enough to never have to experience it firsthand.



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236/300

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Interesting and disturbing story of a young girl forced into an arranged marriage. Her story is heartbreaking, but the writing is short and childish.



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235/300

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thought this book did a good job of telling a story from the point of view of someone with Aspbergers. Yet I agree with the other reviews that said the element of a school shooting seemed unnecessary.



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234/300

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I feel bad giving this a bad review, but I found it really boring. Some of it had some shocking and interesting elements, but I just found it told in a very dry way.



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233/300

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Although I see some criticism of this book for being a "lite" version of Pollan's other books, I think that is actually a benefit. Unless you are really interested and invested in eating better, most people aren't going to sit down and read Omnivore's Dilemma. I wrote my thesis on it and I still find it boring. But this book (which really isn't much of a book at all, but really a list of rules) is a quick and beneficial read that will have me looking at the foods I buy in a new light.



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232/300

Blindness by José Saramago

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Saramago is a unique writer. None of the characters in the story had names - they were identified by their characteristics, like "The girl with dark glasses." I am torn between thinking this is very clever, since everyone is blind, and very silly, because if everyone is blind, wouldn't names be easier than identifying characteristics that you can't see? Another eclectic feature of his writing style is the lack of paragraphs. Every page seems like one long sentence or thought. This made it a little difficult for me to get through because it felt like it went on forever, but I still enjoyed the book. The thought of how quickly things can go terribly wrong is terrifying, and I found the dedication of the wife to be pretty uplifting.



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231/300

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson




Short, quick read.



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230/300

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Again, a book that just has far too much hype and that I didn't feel was worth it. Bravo to the authors for creating male characters who were different and for taking on gay teenagers. But I just thought the whole thing was silly. I really didn't like Tiny and I didn't understand his worship. I just really didn't think the book was all that entertaining.



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229/300

Room by Emma Donoghue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I thought this book was incredible. I finished it in 24 hours because I really didn't want to put it down. Did it have flaws? Sure. But I had no problem suspending any criticism and becoming fully immersed in Jack's world.



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228/300

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am still stuck in the Harry Potter rut. I am reading it because it's Harry Potter and I am an avid reader, so how can I not finish the series? I don't dislike it. But I don't love it. It takes me forever to get through, but I do find myself wanting to finish. In this particular book, Professor Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic infuriated me, so I suppose that means I am invested in it. And I was absolutely shocked at the ending. I feel so bad for Harry. When people said the books got more adult, I still wasn't expecting so much sadness. There always seems to be a magical way to fix it. That wasn't true in this book.



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227/300

The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I should really stop reading Elizabeth Berg. I just find her writing to be whiny and annoying. Nan is having a bit of a mid-life crisis, so she runs away from her husband and decides to interact with everyone along the way. It's not that I can't relate to wanting to run away from it all. But it was done in such a whining manner that I couldn't take it.



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226/300

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I would rate this somewhere between Evanovich's crummy early novels, and my well-loved Stephanie Plum novels. The premise was over the top, especially with the magic and whatnot, but it was Evanovich's familiar voice. It was a fun, quick, light read.



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225/300

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another book that everyone raves about, that I just wasn't entirely feeling. I keep hearing how it is beautifully written, which is nice, but it just didn't grip me, as say, Before I Fall.



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224/300

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I didn't dislike this book. But I didn't love it either, despite all of the raves. At 541 pages, I felt like it wasn't going to end. From Africa to America and back I felt the pain of Marion and I guess it just got too painful after a while. There was very little redemption and too many sad stories.



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223/300

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There was a lot of hype surrounding this book, and as someone who tends to dislike books with hype, and doesn't really like YA novels, I was pleasantly surprised by this offering. The main character of the book dies near the beginning. Yet she remains the main character because she is unable to move on. She keeps living the same day over and over with the same result. She realizes she must change something in order to break the cycle. Heartbreakingly entertaining, I recommend this read.



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222/300

Water for Elephants re-read. I didn't think I would love it as much the second time, but I did!

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Honestly, I am not feeling the hype for this series. The beginning of this book was really boring, but everyone said to keep going because the beginning was just financial setup. But once I got passed all of that, I still was not all that thrilled. I thought it was far more drawn out than it had to be, and the characters are really not very likable. There was enough drama to keep me entertained, but not enough that I am buying into all of the hype.



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220/300

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am still plodding through Harry Potter, this book being the biggest challenge yet at 734 pages. At about page 600 I was getting nervous that everyone said this book was the turning point and I would really start to like it after this point because it gets really "adult." I am still having a hard time with the magic, and I found the ending to be confusing at times, but I can see why everyone says what they do. The end of the book takes a sinister turn that sets up (I am assuming anyway) the rest of the series. This book is less of an ending, a wrap up, and more of a beginning. I am now committed to finishing the series, although I am still not rabid about it. I am hoping I will feel differently after Book 5.



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219/300

Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this in between reading other things, so maybe my review is biased, or maybe I am just a sucker. But after what felt like a slow start, the ending that others have been bashing as overly predictable left me with my jaw on the floor. Ultimately, I really respect a book that can do that.



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218/300

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I listened to this and there were just sooo many characters. I had a hard time keeping everyone straight, and I found many of the characters at least partially unlikeable. I didn't really understand the point of some of the overly dramatic events that didn't seem to have a huge affect on anything, and I just thought it was far too long. But this could be because I was listening to it. I still consider anything by Maeve Binchy a win.



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217/300

Mine Are Spectacular! by Janice Kaplan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was really cheesy and I couldn't really stand it at first, but eventually it grew on me. It was fine for an end of summer beach read.



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216/300

Sliding Into Home by Kendra Wilkinson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I am honestly shocked at all of the great reviews of this book. I can't really think of anything good to say about it. There was very little about the dirt we were promised and instead, a ton of woe-is-me complaining about how her mistakes were everyone else's fault. It had some of the cheesiest lines I have ever read. Just one example in an entire book of them: she used to use the Ouija Board with a childhood friend. After he dies, she writes, do I still think about him? The answer is Y-E-S. SO lame. I hope she realizes how absolutely lucky she is to be where she is now and quits whining about her problems and actually accepts some responsibility.



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215/300

Second Chance by Jane Green

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I liked this book, until I didn't. I wanted to know what was going to happen, I enjoyed the characters, but I started getting annoyed at the loose ends and the way things were tied up with bows in certain areas. I listened to it on audio and when it ended, I had to check to make sure there were no more tracks left. I felt disappointed and left in the cold after being with these characters for so long.



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214/300

I Really Should Have Stayed Home: The Worst Journeys from Harare to Eternity by Bob Drews




Started out pretty funny/interesting but got old fast.



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213/300

If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans by Ann Coulter

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I read this book as part of the task, "read about a subject you disagree with." After seeing some people read books about adultery or polygamy or hookers, I really wish I went with one of those. At least they would've been entertaining.

Previous reviews, as well as Coulter herself, say that liberals don't like her because she is scary and right. Well this liberal doesn't like her because she is everything I dislike in humanity. She lumps all liberals together as one brainless blob of baby-murdering, America hating morons. There were several times I had to read the lines to someone else because I couldn't believe that someone would say things like that. Say things just to be shocking and say that liberals should cower before her. And what's even greater about this display of literary genius, it isn't even any new material. It's just a mash-up of all her other "witty" quotes.

I think it is interesting that people always describe her as being so amazing because she is a beautiful woman, yet she has no problems demeaning women and saying they shouldn't have the right to vote. I would quote some of her crazier stuff but I was all too happy to return this book to the library as soon as I was done with it.




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212/300

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I don't know what to review this just quite yet. Just needed to share that I feel really sad after reading it.



Okay, I had the night (well 4 hours of night after I finished reading) to sleep on it and here are my thoughts.

Obviously I was really excited for this release. If excited is even the word. So when it arrived on my Nook at about 12:20, I settled in for the night.



THERE FOLLOWING IS ONE BIG SPOILER SO PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!



*************************************************************************************************************





















The story starts with Katniss walking around the destroyed remains of her District, #12. Eventually they take her back to her new home, District 13. This new district (where rebels had been running the place since the Dark Days) is much like life under the Capitol, where everyone has a schedule, and a restricted amount of food to eat.



We are told from the beginning that the leaders (Plutarch Heavensbee, the Head Gamemaker at the time of the Quarter Quell and one of the leaders of the rebel force, and Alma Coin, the president of district 13) want Katniss to be the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion. I was going to mention Heavensbee's assistant as well but I realized I couldn't even remember her name, since I feel like she played a large part at the beginning but then we never hear about her again. Haymitch plays a role, too, in the same confusing way him and Katniss often have a love/hate relationship. After seeing Peeta on Capitol propaganda, Katniss realizes that there cannot be a ceasefire and she must be the voice of the rebels.



There is a lot of time spent filming propaganda pieces to cut into the Capitols programming. Eventually, Katniss realizes she needs Peeta to keep going. So Gale and others go to the Capitol to find him and when they bring him back, they discover he has been brainwashed by the Capitol to hate Katniss and want to kill her. For a while, I was thinking Peeta might be dead and that this was just some kind of mutt version of him.



Katniss eventually leads the team (Gale, a semi-deranged Peeta, the new and likeable Boggs, Finnick, and other newbies) on a (unbeknownst to the team) mission to kill President Snow.



I am not going to go into too much detail here about the ending except that it was incredibly depressing. I thought the climax was strange in that they just kind of wrote Katniss off in the end as being a but nutty. I felt like there was a lot more potential there. I thought the stuff with President Snow was rather anti-climactic. I did not feel satisfied about the resolution of the relationship with Gale. I am annoyed at the little mention of Madge and her family and how that ended up. At first I thought the stuff with Peeta was glossed over too quickly (he DID try to kill her after all) but after I thought about it more, I was okay with it.



Maybe the most disturbing thing was how depressed Katniss was for most of it. Not that she shouldn't be. But God, she never seems to catch a break. And nothing truly ever seems to be okay.



Overall, I can't be disappointed in the way Collins blurs the lines between good and evil. And if it was a bad book, I doubt I would have stayed up all night reading it. But I am a little bummed. After reading some of the theories before the release of the book (namely that Madge's mother was the actual Mockingjay) I was a little upset that it didn't take that direction. Ultimately, a happy ending was not possible so I guess this was the closest thing. I am still digesting a lot of it and maybe my rating will change or I will need to add more. But now I just feel sad about it. Which I guess means it was an amazing book.



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211/300

Catching Fire reread

210/300

The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I love me some Marian Keyes. This book was most like This Charming Man - a good read with some light points, but shadowed by heavier ones. The book starts as a countdown of days and is narrated by a type of spirit. Much like TCM, you didn't really know exactly what was going on with the characters until a good couple hundred pages in.



The spirit winds up at 66 Starr Street, a building whose residents eventually have lives that entertwine. Lydia, the cab driver, is not very likeable. She lives with 2 Polish men and goes out of her way to make her roommates miserable. I didn't really think her backstory made up for as terrible as she was, although you could see why she was angry.



Jemima is an old woman who lives alone with her dog, until her grown foster son, Fionn comes to live with her. Somehow Fionn seems to fall instantly in love with every woman he comes into contact with.



Katie is just turning 40 and her boyfriend, Conall does not give her the respect she deserves. Her friends and family despise him and his flashiness.



Matt and Maeve are a married couple who appear to be in a boring routine in their life.



I found some of the stories of forgiveness to be a little far fetched, but I still love what Keyes has to offer.



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209/300

Hunger Games - listened to on audio

208/300

Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman




This was a standard, enjoyable Delaware/Sturgis mystery. A young school teacher is found dead in a tub of dry ice. A video is found saying that if anything happens to her, here is who did it. I thought this was the weak part of the story. Scandal and other deaths ensue. Everything you would expect.



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207/300

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was an enjoyable, funny read. I thought it was far better than Russell Brand's book. I don't know too much about Silverman's career but I liked that she could mock herself and I thought her arguments with her editors were funny. It wasn't, for the most part, laugh out loud funny, but it was decent.



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206/300

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I read this book to do a comparison of a movie to a book. While the movie is no display of cinematic genius, it was better than the book. At least the main character in the movie can come off as a little cute, and hard on her luck because she just lost her job. In the book, she is a completely dispicable character, that just drove me crazy. She has no morals, no sense of responsibility and is just extremely unlikeable.

In the book, the bank manager was far too easy on her. At least in the movie he treated her like the imbecile that she was.

The love story was different in both situations, too. In the book the love interest was a jerk to her much of the time. In the movie, he was her boss and she was the one who hurt him.

Overall, I didn't love either.

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205/300

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I hated this style. Really kind of hated it. It was one big foreshadow. Like, "It all seemed like it would be okay until that fateful day we went on the trip....So let me tell you about the day we went on the trip...The day we went on the trip started out like any other." So annoying.

I thought the premise of the story was great, but that the book never was really about the premise. Instead, it felt like it was about the annoying relationships between annoying people. Tommy seemed nutty and daft, while Ruth just seemed nasty. So to have the whole book really be about Kathy (the narrator)'s relationships with them bored me to death. I would have much preferred to learn about the meat and potatoes of the carers and donators than these annoying relationships.

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204/300

One Day by David Nicholls

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Wow, what a downer. It took me 200 pages to even get into this book because I hated Dexter so much and didn't really understand why Emma was keeping him around. Then they FINALLY get together, which I knew would happen since I saw someone review that the ending is predictable. That part of the ending maybe, but all of a sudden, BAM! Emma gets hit by a car and she is dead. What the heck?? What a downer.

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203/300

Night of Many Dreams: A Novel by Gail Tsukiyama

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was the story of two sisters, their mother, their aunt, and their cook and involves forceful immigration and immigration by choice. I thought it was just ok. I didn't find myself caring about the characters too much, and just found most of it boring.

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202/300

Fly Away Home: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love Jennifer Weiner, and this book is no exception. I liked it far more than Best Friends Forever. In fact, I began reading this in a bookstore and didn't want to stop. Sylvie used to be a lawyer, and now she is merely a politician's wife. When she finds out on the news that her husband has been cheating on her, her world is turned upside down and she needs to find a new normal. The narration rotates between her and her two daughters: Diana, a cold ER nurse with a secret of her own and Lizzie, a recovering addict.Some of the characters frustrated me at times (Lizzie, in her relationship for one), and I never really wound up liking Diana but by book's end I felt I could understand her a little more. Overall, I am glad to see Weiner is back.

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201/300

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


As I have mentioned before, any story about the Holocaust really interests me. It is amazing to see what disgusting travesties people are capable of, but also how people will risk it all for human kind.

The story is about a zoo in Poland that is destroyed in World War II. The zookeeper and his wife hide refugees they call "guests" in the zoos many cages, houses, etc., to keep them safe from the Nazis. While a great story of what people are willing to do for others, I found the book to be dreadfully boring. I really got in to the last 75 or so pages, probably because I was excited to almost be done with it, but also because I thought it got a little more interesting.

I don't know if I have an early copy of the book or something, but I was SO turned off that when I went to read the jacket (I had already picked up a copy somewhere along the way) the very first word of the second paragraph is "drawinag" instead of drawing. I mean, really? On the book jacket?!

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200/200

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I liked this book more than I thought I would. I am not a memoir person at all, but it did keep me interested. However, the problem I had with the book was the main character/author herself. For some reason, she drove me nuts! Maybe it was within the first couple pages as she complained about only making $82,000 (in 1990's dollars) to write about free fancy meals. In those same pages she talks about the all the reasons she does not want the job at the NY Times. Even though she sabotages her interview, she is just SO good that they hire her anyway. Poor you.So her family moves to NY and she begins to be her own person by going against the grain of old critics and the Times and weathers complaints. In order to remain incognito, she disguises herself with wigs, makeup, clothes, etc. But that's not all. When she dresses up as someone, she also takes on their personalities. To me, this seemed like a thinly veiled excuse to act like a complete bitch (or insert other adjective depending on the persona). The fact that she just morphed into this new person was so cheesy to me. I also found her son to be extremely precocious, saying things like, 'I wouldn't want to eat at a super expensive restaurant every day. Then it wouldn't be special anymore. 'In the end, it was interesting and she was a good storyteller. But I was left wondering how many times one can eat a sexually described serving of foie gras without becoming morbidly obese.

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199/200

Secrets to Happiness: A Novel by Sarah Dunn

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book is full of shallow, annoying characters that you just don't even want to see succeed. Throw in a needy dog and a few BJ's and you've got yourself a novel. I was disappointed.

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198/200

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I'm still not entirely sure whether I should give this book 2 stars or 3. I listened to it as an audiobook, and the one main impression that I got from that was that the female had a really melifilous (sp?) voice that I truly enjoyed listening to. I wish she spoke more. I think the title of the book is rather misleading. Although Oscar (whose last name is not even Wao) does have a short life, I think it was far from wondrous. In fact, nothing really happened to him at all except for his tragic end. The meat and potatoes of the story is actually Oscar's family. The problem may have been with me because it was through an audio book but I had a hard time keeping track of time periods and characters since Diaz jumps through time several times. Oscar's mom is an extremely unlikeable character, although in time you begin to understand her a little. I still don't really get why she was so awful to her kids. I liked Oscar's sister, Lola, the most, although that isn't really saying much as none of the character's were all that likable. The narrator himself seemed like a jerk. The language of the book was really harsh, and I found it frustrating to have so many things said in Spanish without a translation. Worst of all, I thought Oscar's demise was pathetic. Truly pathetic. I don't know what he was attempting to accomplish at the end, and the way he died was just silly. The way he was threatening the goons, I thought he had some kind of plan when really it was just an anti-climactic stall tactic.

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197/200

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I heard an interview with Russell Brand on Preston and Steve, and I thought he was down-right hilarious. He mentioned his book and how he will have to write another one now that he is a one-woman man who is off drugs. So I figured his book when he was a druggie prostitute would be great! Oy was I wrong. I thought it would be funny. It wasn't. Not even a little. He talks about being molested. Twice. Yikes. Not sure that is what I thought it would be. But most of all, it was just boring. Plain ole I don't want to read this anymore boring. I get it, you're wild, you're crazy, you're unpredictable. But sadly, not very entertaining.

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196/200

Impatient with Desire by Gabrielle Burton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the story of The Donner Party, reconstructed from theories, and told in the form of letters and journal entries. I found the whole tale of the journey to be heartbreaking, but interesting. The massive party felt that life would be better in California and decided to make the trek. They were caught in snow without hope of rescue. The only thing I didn't like about this book, was the jumping through time. I found some of it to be confusing in parts. But overall, it really made you sympathize with the plight of early pioneers just striving for the America dream.

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195/200

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Looking at these other reviews, I feel like the minority here. Maybe I just missed something, but I found this book to be pretty boring. Codi is quite nearly a doctor but winds up working as a 7-11 clerk instead. She lives in a loveless relationship while trying to aggressively forget her past. Her sister Hallie is a martyr who apparently can do no wrong. She moves to Guatamala to basically save the world and Codi is distraught. She moves back home to her small town in order to take care of her affection-less father who is suffering from Althzeimer's. I was bored with this book with most of the first 85% and then it hit me that if this was typical Kingsolver, that it wouldn't end well. The end, while sad, was really the only part that interested me. *I am sure there are many errors in this review because there is a stupid Science Diet ad in the way that is impossible to close.

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194/200

Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I listened to this book and I felt like parts of it were absolute torture. I had listened to a different book from this series, and don't remember it being this annoying. I was hard pressed to find a character who was not childish. A 60-year-old woman is called old and she gets in a huge huff? Really? And she must say the word "dear" after every single solitary sentence, which makes it even worse when you are listening to it. The guys are complete cheeseballs, despite being in their 30's. And despite everyone telling Hannah she had to lose weight, they were constantly downing dozens of cookies at every juncture. And the cat putting the food back in the bag? Don't even get me started. It was fine for a listen, but I will NOT be reading any more of the books in this series.

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193/200

Honestly, I thought there was very little substance to this book. I feel like it tried to be deep, with the story of a girl who moves so much she has no roots, and a dead father that she knows very little about. Her mother just up and leaves her to do doctorate work and dumps Izzy in her home village in New Mexico with people she doesn't know. These people are able to give her some information about her father, and of course, she grows from the experience.

I don't even want to post the review on GR because she is a GR author and has rave reviews so far. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I don't think it was worth reading.

192/200

First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life by Eve Brown-Waite

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was fully expecting to hate this book. I started it on the way home from the library, and I couldn't stop. I wound up reading until midnight. It was everything that Eat, Pray, Love was not. It was funny, and it was interesting. It didn't make me feel inferior for not being in the Peace Corps, and the main character was somewhat human in her reactions to living in a third world country. I say somewhat because I found her whole pregnancy to be crazy and more than a little reckless. But, hey, it is her life and her child, so who am I to judge?

I don't know why I found this so hilarious, but this part had me hooked:

"Everyone knew that your Peace Corps passport should be stamped for no less than two years. So there I'd be, like the awkward girl at the Girl Scout jamboree. All uniform, no merit badges.

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191/200

The Summer I Dared: A Novel by Barbara Delinsky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have had this book on my shelf for years, and I just got around to reading it. I actually really enjoyed it. Julia is a New Yorker in a loveless marriage who decides to go to Big Sawyer, an island off of Maine, to visit her aunt and take a photography course. When the ferry she is on inexplicably crashes, her life and only 2 others are spared. This prompts Julia to reexamine her life and truly find herself. I wound up really disliking Julia's family, including her daughter. They were so needy and whiny that it was draining. I was really happy with the outcome of the story. I would've given this 3 and a half stars if I could.

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190/200

Assassin by Grace Cavendish

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked it because it reminded me of a Philippa Gregory-type historical fiction. I didn't guess the twist, but after the first twist, it seemed to get far-fetched with another. By the end, I felt like it was a Scooby Doo episode because the villan practically said, "And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for that pesky kid." I highly doubt I will continue with the series, because it just got too cheesy for me by the end.

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189/200

California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to this book, like I listened to the other book by this author and it was enjoyable. I found the voice used for Timmy to be really annoying, but otherwise, it made my "read a paranormal" task much easier for me!

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188/200

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, I do agree with people who say the series gets better as time goes on, although how much so, I have yet to find out since most people say #4 is where it gets serious. I am unwilling to take that plunge yet because #4 is over 700 pages. But I enjoyed this book the most of the three so far. I am still not enthralled but I will continue to see what happens.

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187/200

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. I purchased it because I was a ta book signing and Libba Bray seemed like a really cool person. I was even able to get my copy of Going Bovine signed. I really liked the first 100 pages and I flew threw them. My only complaint was the name of the MTV-like VJ: Parker Day. I immediately thought of Carson Daly. Any way, after Cameron gets sick, the resulting book is what I would perceive an acid-trip to be like. The book references Don Quixote and I assume the book was supposed to be of the same vein. I despised Quixote in high school so that may somewhat explain my distaste for this book.

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186/200

Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As I am reading everyone else's reviews, I couldn't agree more. Uninspired feels like a good word to use to describe this memoir. It felt rather clinical to me for something that could've been gripping and emotional. Greenburg's daughter, Sally, is gripped by madness at age 15. She is committed to a psychiatric hospital and given the diagnosis of Bipolar 1. The author talks about how everyone suffers and then basically needs to babysit her until she comes out of her manic mood. I just felt like I was reading something that was tough for someone else, but didn't really affect people the way I thought it would, the author included.

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